Halloween World: South
by Tormax
Summary: Everything changed forever on that Halloween. It brings forth a dark power that may destroy Haven before it can really get things moving. This is part of Spaceman's Halloween World story, written with his permission. You should read his story first.


Note: I don't own any of the characters here. This is a part of Spaceman's Halloween World. Check out the story that started it all. .net/s/3897170/1/Halloween_World_The_Halloween_that_Never_Ends

The world had simply gone mad, that was all there was to it. There were no code omegas to activate, no Hydra agents to blame, and no Avengers to turn to for help...well there might be some Avengers to call for help, but how to contact them was the last thing on his mind. There were other pressing matters going through his mind like how to secure enough supplies for the civilians that were looking to him for support and leadership. He rubbed his left temple, his finger briefly touching the eye-patch that he wore. He was wishing for a cigar, but that was out of the question, as they were barely getting by as it was. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Despite being seventy-four years old, he looked like he was in his early thirties. Brown hair with graying streaks, and 5 o clock shadow as he went a few days without a bath. He was used to hard times, growing up in the depression...but this.. this made every thing he'd endured in his life seem like a simple jog in the park. He fingered the white needle pistol on his belt, glanced down at the SHIELD uniform he still wore. He had no memories of the person people said he'd once been and despite what that man's mother said, he had not killed her son. He'd simply felt like he'd woken up from a long sleep. His mouth twisted at what some people said, that'd he was simply a fictional character brought to life. He'd been through enough and read enough Avengers mission briefings to dismiss that, as to him it was simply an alternate universe. Still, he avoided his former self's mother wishing to not cause her any further harm and simply to spare himself the grief. He blew out a sigh through his nostrils and glanced down at the reports again. Every day brought more even worse news than the day before. It wasn't enough to be dealing with various amounts of supernatural creatures, people gone insane with the power and memories that they simply could not handle, and then you had people who tried to take advantage of the chaos to make their own kingdom or to just make their own life easier. It didn't matter, he was used to dealing with corruption and power plays, after all he was his universe's greatest spy and that was simply part of the job. A knock on the door took his mind off of his brooding. "Yes?" he spoke with the gruff that had simply become his natural way of speaking.

"Yo, boss-man. The scavenging teams are back." the door swung open as a lanky red-haired man with goggles on his head walked in. The man looked a sight in his unbuttoned jacket and his shirt hanging out instead of being tucked in.

Fury simply stared at the man in front of him. "Casualties?"

"None this time. Having some of the guard take inventory on the supplies they're bringing in. But that's not why I'm here. Found what was left of the last group that wanted to leave. Everyone of them were slaughtered. Tracks left behind seemed to be sort of beast-men." the red-haired man replied.

"Think they were werewolves, Reno?" Fury asked.

Reno shrugs. "Trackers said this was something different. Many different types. To what the scholars say, lycanthropes prefer to keep company with the same subtype. This was many different kinds of beast-men. They picked up some hairs and our resident mad scientist is studying it as we speak."

Fury nodded and sat down at his desk. "Pym isn't a mad scientist. He's just a scientist."

Reno chuckled, "He has a serum that lets people shrink, grow, or do both. That puts him in mad scientist territory. At least he's not creepy like Professor Hojo was."

Fury didn't answer right away, his mind was working with a plan to get them through the next 30 days. The guard simply didn't have the experience to deal with the horrors that Halloween had brought forth. They were the remnants of the Kentucky National Guard. Weekend warriors as some liked to call them. Still, they made a very good police force. He was quiet for a few seconds more before he spoke again, "Any other groups wanting to leave?"  
Reno shook his head no. "What's left of this lovely walled paradise is thankful for the protection we freaks can provide. " he finished with a smirk.

"That's good. Maybe they'll listen to some reason now." He raised a hand to keep a smart-mouthed comment from flying out of Reno's mouth. "How are the training camps coming along?"

Reno rubbed his arms and grinned a bit. "The Mandalorian boot camp has actually found a few who made it through." He shuddered thinking of the ordeal Johnson put his recruits through. "The Manda'lor has some pretty high standards, but his Mandalorian commandos will help out a lot." Reno chewed on his lip before continuing, "we've managed to find a few talented people who can use the fresh UN-mastered materia that me and the big S had lying around. Good thing about materia is that once its mastered, it will create a freshly UN-mastered one that you can give to others. The old timers have are using the green-houses to teach gardening/farming to those who managed to stay normal."

Fury nodded, taking in the information just as quickly as it left Reno's mouth. "The others?"

Reno put his hands behind his head and stretched. "Mariam Sedai has a few students in her little white tower, but I'm not allowed to know what exactly goes in there. She still thinks she can run it as she sees fit. But Chad's recruits are coming along just fine. He even talked that traveling swordsman into staying and training his few recruits with the blade."

Fury nodded. "I'll have to speak with Mariam myself." He sighed, he didn't need anymore power plays. She was constantly pushing to see what she could get away with. She'd complimented him on his skill on Daes Dae'mar, the great game. He knew it as other name, his job for the past forty years. Still, he needed to come down on her and soon. He spoke up "Good. Go and have someone prepare the inventory report. I'll need to see it as soon as possible."

"Sure thing boss-man. You know you'd made a fine Turk." Reno grinned.

Fury snorted, "Isn't that just a term for a spy?"

"That's harsh man. I worked for Shinra's General Affairs Department." Reno smirked.

"Sounds like a spy to me." Fury shrugged. "Do the rounds."

Fury waited until Reno shut the door before he turned and studied the map again. Haven wasn't much of a foothold. It wasn't even the town's original name. He'd managed to somehow wall-off the town. Maria Stark had managed to build an arc reactor to keep the town supplied with power after the massive electromagnetic pulse had taken out the power. He never knew that Tony Stark had a daughter, but no matter, he'd used what tools were offered to keep these people safe. Pym had worked with both the water-treatment plant and the water company itself to make sure that the water stayed on, but it was touch and go. Communication was done with messengers now, though a man named Stevens was working on something that would enable them to communicate instantly and almost anywhere, but he said that it would take awhile for him to finish. Sitting down, he picked up a bottle of water and began to drink it, wishing it was a cup of coffee instead. But that was a luxury item and he'd given strict orders to only pick up items that were necessary. He opened the blinds and glanced at the red sky, and thanked God that Pug's spell worked and keeps the worst of the fire-showers away. Several nearby towns were already destroyed by those blasted things. Each day brought a trickle of desperate refugees in or people just passing through trying to find loved ones or a place that they actually felt safe at. He hoped that they found it and not ended up dead like the last group that tried to find a safer place.

He was out the door walking before he knew it, plans forming in his mind. He didn't like fighting blind, that was a good way to get everyone killed. He had to know what exactly he was dealing with and no offense to Pym, but the scientist was dealing with very substandard equipment and he had a history of not dealing well with pressure. It didn't take him long to reach his destination. It didn't look like much. Old, ground-level, with fading white paint. It had a sloped roof and three little steps that led up into the brick building. He suppressed a grin thinking that this had once been a lawyer's office. He stopped at the door and knocked.

"Just a second." a voice from inside called out.

After a few seconds the door opened as a brown-haired woman looked up at him. "Colonel Fury, just what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Good evening, Mrs. Skywalker, Is your husband here?" Fury asked. Hoping that she wouldn't start reminding him again of his responsibility to restore a government. He wasn't opposed to the idea, in fact he greatly looked forward to it. But they had to stand on their feet first and with new threats coming daily, it didn't look like they'd last long enough to restore any form of government.

Padme stared into his one good eye before sighing and opening the door to let Fury come in. "He's downstairs, talking to his students."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Fury replied, thankful that he didn't have to debate with her. She was both his greatest supporter and the biggest thorn in his side. How she did that he had no idea. She was as passionate about her beliefs as Rogers was and tackled problems much like Sharon would. Still, that didn't matter much at the moment. His thoughts were on the man he'd come to see as he walked down the steps.

Anakin glanced up at the steps as he saw Fury coming to a stop. He motioned to the Colonel to abide for a second as he addressed his students. "Okay, that's enough practicing for now. Amanda, why don't you lead the glance in meditation." He waited until his best student, who'd became his assistant began to instruct the class in meditation before he turned around and walked toward Fury. "Welcome Colonel Fury."

Fury held out his hand toward Anakin and shook the Jedi's cyborg hand. "Evening Skywalker."

"I'm guessing this isn't a social visit." Anakin said.

"Fraid not." Fury snorted. "Scavenging party found what was left of the last group that left. No survivors."

Anakin raised an eyebrow as he spoke, "Any idea of what killed them?"

"Trackers said they found some tracks that looked like beast-men tracks. They don't think its were-creatures as they tend to stick to their own and not associate with other were-beasts." Fury explained. "I'd like you to check it out. The trackers got some samples and Pym is going to run some tests on them, but that will take some time that we don't really have."

Anakin nodded slowly, "I'll get Reggie to teleport me there."

"Good man. Be careful out there." Fury said.

Anakin turned and motioned to Amanda that she would be taking over for the rest of the day. "I'll leave right away."

Fury turned and walked back up the steps, stopping briefly to say goodbye to Padme before he let himself out. One problem down, only a thousand more to go and miles to go before I sleep he mused to himself.


End file.
